- All of the sayings of adh-Dhahabee in the books that are
affirmed to be from him, to do with ibn Taymiyyah, revolve around praise and respect of him. (A glimpse of these
has preceded).

- This letter is written in
the handwriting of ibn Qaadee
ash-Shuhba, an enemy of ibn Taymiyyah.

We have not seen one who
ascribes this book to adh-Dhahabee after Qaadee ash-Shuhba except for his contemporary, al-Haafidh
as-Sakhaawee, may Allaah have mercy on him, who merely followed him. [From the book, ‘at-Tawdeeh al-Jallee fee
ar-Radd alaa Naseeha adh-Dhahabiyyah al-Manhula alaa al-Imaam adh-Dhahabee’
(pp85-86) by Shaykh Muhammad bin Ibraaheem ash-Shaybaanee, with summary]” – End of quote from Abu Rumaysah

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However i have read another
article where it
states that he was the one who authored it (Al-Nasîha al-Dhahabiyya li Ibn
Taymiyya is an epistle written when al-Dhahabî was around fifty-five years of age and addressed to Ibn
Taymiyya towards the end of his
life.

In this
brief but scathing epistle the author distances himself from his contemporary
and admonishes him without naming him, calling him “an
eloquent polemicist who neither rests nor sleeps.”

3. And the two greatest experts on
al-Dhahabî’s works,
Salâh al-Dîn al-Munajjid and Bashshâr `Awwâd Ma`rûf, declared
there was no doubt al-Dhahabî wrote it towards the end of his life and
addressed Ibn Taymiyya. Bashshar `Awwad Ma`rûf, al-Dhahabî (p. 146).

Two extant manuscripts of the Nasîha are kept, one in Cairo at
the Dâr al-Kutub al-Misriyya (#B18823) copied by Ibn Qâdî Shuhba and one in Damascus at the Zâhiriyya
library (#1347).

My question: So does Abu rumaysahs claim stand its ground
or is he giving his own commentary?

(thats what i would like to ask)

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Answer:

Abu Rumaysah Refi Shafi– is not an Alim but a mere copier of the claims of arab
“Salafiyya”.

He admitted that Hafiz al Sakhawi came across this letter – but it is strange
thatAbu Rumaysah claimed thatAl-Sakhawi merely followed ibn Qadi Shuhba!

Where is the daleel for this Abu
Rumaysa and al-Shaybani?

What proof is there that Ibn Qadi
Shuhba was an enemy to ibn Taymiyya?

Which of his contemporaries said
that Ibn Qadi may have “forged” the letter in the name of al-Dhahabi?!

The fact of the matter is this:Imam al-Dhahabi had a son
who was known as Abu Hurayra.

Hence, both of these
Hadith Masters could have easily
verified with Abu Hurayra, if
his father – Hafiz al-Dhahabi, had
actually compiled this or not for sure.

The fact that al-Sakhawi quoted from al-Dhahabi verbatim
in his al-I’lan is proof that he
accepted the authenticity of al-Dhahabi’s
attack on ibn Taymiyya!

Al-Sakhawi did not say that it was forged against Dhahabi or that it came down in the
handwriting of Ibn Qadi Shuhba!

This
seems to be a “Salafi” hash at trying toclear Ibn Taymiyya as is their usual habit, but with no
solid proof – but mere conjecture!

Wassalam

Abul
Hasan

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The Nasiha is preserved in

Dar al-Kutub alMisriyya

(no. 18823),Cairo,Egypt, and in the former Maktaba al-Zahiriyya (no. 1347),

Damascus, Syria.

I have enclosed a scan of the original handwritten edition of the Nasiha as transmitted by

Shaykh ibn Qadi Shuhba(died in851 AH),

and that of Shaykh Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari(d.1371 AH)

who was the first one to publish this short letter in the year1347 AH.

What gives strength to the
authenticity of this letter being by Hafiz al-Dhahabi is the fact that Ibn Qadi Shuhba, who is known as a
biographer of the later Shafi’i Madhhab, as well as being a Historian, had
actually given his Sahih Isnad back to al-Dhahabi.

This letter reached him from:
al-Qadi Burhan ibnJama’a (d. 790
AH) from the Hafiz of Hadith: Abu
Sa’eed al-Alai’e (d. 761 AH), who took it
from his teacher: Hafiz al-Dhahabi.

For those who are not in tune with what the contents of the

Nasiha
from al-Dhahabi to ibn Taymiyya are, please read this

Quote:

In the Name of Allah
Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Praise be to Allah for my lowliness. O Lord, have mercy on me,
diminish my mistakes, and preserve my Iman for me. What sadness at my lack of
sadness; what sorrow over the sunna and the departure of its people; what
longing for believing brothers to share with me in weeping; what grief over the
loss of people who were light-giving lamps of Sacred Knowledge, men of taqwa,
and treasure-troves of every good; alas for not finding a dirhem that is halaal
or a brother who is loving.

Great good tidings to him whose own faults divert him from those of
others, and woe to whom the faults of others divert him from his own.

How long will you see the speck in your brother’s eye and forget
the log in your own? How long will you praise yourself, your prattle, your style,
while blaming religious scholars and searching out people’s shameful points,
knowing as you do that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade
it saying:

“Mention not your dead save with good, for they have gone onto what
they have sent ahead.”

Of course, I realise that you will defend yourself by telling me
the attacks are only for those who’ve never smelled the scent of Islam and
don’t know what Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) brought and that
is your jihad. Not so, by Allah those who you attack know what is even better
than the amount that suffices if the servant acts on it to make him succeed.
Moreover, they are ignorant of a great deal that does not concern them. And
“the excellence of a persons Islam includes leaving what does not concern him.”
By Allah man! Give us respite from you, for you are an eloquent polemicist who
neither rests nor sleeps. Beware of doubt-creating, problematic religious
questions. Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was offended by too
many questions, found fault with them, and forbade excessive asking. He also
said:

“The thing I fear most for my people is the eloquent hypocrite.”

Too much talking, if free of mistakes, hardens the heart when it
concerns the halaal and haraam. So how should it be when it concerns the words
of the Yunusiyya, the philosophers, and expressions of kufr, which make hearts
go blind? By Allah, we’ve become a laughing stock in existence. How long will
you disinter the details of philosophical expressions of kufr for us to refute
with our minds? You’ve swallowed, man, the poison of the philosophers and of
their works more than once; and by too much using of a poison one’s
constitution gets addicted. It collects, by Allah, in the body.

O, what longing for a group among whom the Qur’an is recited with
reflection, where awe is experienced through its meditation, where there is
silence from its contemplation.

O, what longing for an assembly where the pious are mentioned, for
mercy descends where the righteous people are remembered, not where the
righteous are spoken of with contempt and curses. The sword of al-Hajjaj and
the tongue of Ibn Hazm were brothers [ie no Muslims was safe from them], and
now you have joined the family. By Allah, give us a break from talking about
“the bid`a of Thursday”, and “eating the grains”, and rather make a serious
effort to remember the bid`as we used to consider the source of all
misguidance, which have now become the “genuine sunna” and the “basis of
tawhid”, and whoever doesn’t know them is a Kafir, or a donkey, and whoever
doesn’t call him a Kafir is a bigger Kafir than Pharaoh. You consider the very
Christians like us.

By Allah, there are misgivings in hearts. You are fortunate if your
faith in the two shahadahs has remained unscathed. Oh the disappointment of him
who follows you, for he is exposed to corruption in basic beliefs and to
dissolution. Particularly if he is short of learning and religion, a
self-indulgent idler who does well for you by fighting on your behalf with his
hand and tongue, while he is actually your enemy in his being and heart. What
are your followers but hidebound do-nothings of little intelligence, common
liars with dull minds, silent outlanders strong in guile, or dryly righteous
without understanding? If you don’t believe it, just look at them and honestly
assess them.

The donkey of your lusts, O Muslim, has stepped forward to applaud
your self. How long will you dote on your ego and attack the finest people?

How long will you credit it, and disdain the pious?

How long will you exalt it, and despise the devotees?

How long will you be its closest friend, and detest the abstinent?

How long will you praise your own words in a manner you do not even
use for the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim?

Would that the hadiths of the two Sahihs were safe from you, as you
continually attack them, by suggesting weakness, considering them fair game, or
with figurative explanations and denial. Hasn’t the time come to give up?

Is it not it time to repent and atone? Aren’t you at that tenth of
a man’s life when he reaches seventy years and the final departure has drawn
near?

Indeed, By Allah, I don’t recall that you remember death much. You
sneer at whoever remembers death. So I don’t think you’ll take to my words or hear
my exhortation. You will, instead, probably show great energy and concern to
demolish this piece of paper with weighty volumes, snipping off the ends of my
sentences for me until you gain the upper hand and can close the argument with
a triumphant “…at all. And he was silent.”

If this is how you stand in my eyes, and I am someone sympathetic
to you, fond and affectionate, how do you think you stand with your enemies? By
Allah among your enemies, there are the righteous and intelligent men and
virtuous ones, just as among your friends there are the wicked, liars,
ignoramuses, layabouts, the vile, and cattle.

I can accept that you should publicly disparage me, while secretly
benefiting from what I have said. “May Allah have mercy on the man who shows me
my faults” [words attributed to `Umar (Allah be pleased with him)]. For I have
many faults and sins, and woe to me if I myself do not repent, and how enormous
my disgrace from Him who knows the Hidden. The sole remedy for me is the
forgiveness of Allah and His clemency, His giving success and His guidance.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Allah bless our lieglord
Muhammad, the Last of the Prophets, his folk and companions one and all.

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This is a little more about al-Dhahabi on ibn Taymiyya, from al-Albani Unveiled:

Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi (d. 748/1348;
Rahimahullah)

Hafiz al-Dhahabi was a special
case when it came to giving his opinions on his teacher Ibn Taymiyya. His praise of Ibn
Taymiyya is routinely eulogistic in nature, but it is invariably filled
with strong and some what harsh criticisms as
well.

Imam al-Subki had criticizedal-Dhahabi for being influenced by Ibn Taymiyya, when he said: “The group comprised of al-Mizzi, al-Dhahabi, al-Birzali, and many of
their followers were clearly harmed by Abu al-Abbas ibn
Taymiyya, who led them to gross acts of no little consequence and drew
them to things that they should have avoided…” (vide: Tabaqat al-Shafi’iyya
al-Kubra, 6, 254).

Anyhow, al-Dhahabi himself seemed to have had mixed feelings for Ibn Taymiyya, as we shall see in the next few
paragraphs. The most explicit criticism
of Ibn Taymiyya as a scholarly figure may have
come in an epistle entitled al-Nasiha
al- Dhahabiyya li-Ibn Taymiyya (al-Dhahabi’s advice to Ibn Taymiyya);
apparently from the pen of Hafiz al-Dhahabi.

Some
people have doubted the authenticity of this document in its ascription to
Hafiz al- Dhahabi; but even if it was not by al-Dhahabi we may assume that it
was a blistering attack by some ‘unknown’ scholar!

The document has been preserved in the Bayan Zaghal al-’Ilm

(edited by Shaykh
Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, pp. 31-34).

Here are a few excerpts from this
document (pg 32):

“Blessed
is he whose fault diverts him from the faults of others! Damned is he whom
others divert from his own faults! How long will you look at the motes in the
eye of your brother, forgetting the stumps in your own? How long will you
praise yourself and your prattling phrases while disparaging the Ulama and
pursuing other people’s weaknesses? (Pg. 32-33): By Allah, you must leave us
alone! You are contentious and are endowed with a learned tongue which does not
pause or rest! Beware of captious questions in religions… Too much talk without
proof hardens hearts….

(pg 33): By Allah, we have become the laughing
stock of creation! How long will you dig up intricate philosophical blasphemies
for us refute with our brains? You have repeatedly swallowed the poison of the
philosophers and their works; the body becomes addicted to the frequent use of
poison so that is secreted, by Allah, in the very bones. Your followers help
you and fight for you in word and deed but are your secret enemies in their
hearts! Are not most of your disciples crippled and bound, of facile
intelligence or blind, liars, stupid, strange, crafty, or dessicated, virtuous
without understanding? If you don’t believe me, inspect them, weigh them with
justice…

(Pg. 34): I do not expect you to accept my
words or hearken to my admonition; instead you will strive to produce volumes
in refutation of this one page. You will snip off the tails of my words
relentlessly, until I retreat into absolute silence! If this is your attitude
towards me – someone who regards you with love and affection – how will you
treat your enemies, among whom, by Allah, are righteous men, intelligent and
virtuous…? I will be content if you curse me in public as long as you heed my
words in private.”

The Muhaddith, Hafiz al-Sakhawi (d. 902/1497; Rahimahullah), said
that he had seen the above work attributed to al-Dhahabi. Nevertheless,
al-Sakhawi quotes, without identifying, another treatise in which al-Dhahabi criticisedIbn Taymiyya in the following words:

“Though I have spent long years considering
and investigating Ibn Taymiyya, I have found that the only reasons why the
Egyptians and Syrians hated him, scorned him, and called him a liar or even an
unbeliever, were his pride, his vanity, and his pretensions, his passion to
head his fellow Shaykhs, his contempt for the great, and his love of publicity.”
(vide: Al-I’lan bi al-Tawbikh li-Man Dhamma al-Ta’rikh, pg. 136).

“People
who know him well sometimes accuse me of failing to do justice; his opponents
sometimes charge me with puffery. I have been abused by both parties-his
supporters and his adversaries. (His hair and beard were salt-and pepper
coloured, containing little grey, his hair reaching his ear lobes. His eyes
were like eloquent tongues. Of medium height, he was broad shouldered and had a
loud, expressive voice and was quick of speech). Though anger would sometimes
grip him, he would conquer it with forbearance. I have not seen his like for
supplications and appeals and for his abundant concern for others. But I do not
believe him to be infallible; indeed, I disagree with
him on both basic and secondary issues. For, despite his vast learning,
his extreme courage, his fluid mind, and his regard for the sanctities of
religion, he was but a man.”

“In discussion he would be possessed by
rage, anger, and hostility against his adversaries, which implanted enmity in
their spirits. If he had only treated his antagonists with civility, they would
have been reconciled with him, for the most notable of them deferred to his
learning, acknowledged his ardent zeal, and agreed that his lapses were few.”

Salafi Aqeedah:Main Content

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CREDIT: THE AHL AS-SUNNAH WA'LJAMA'AH

Ibn Mas’ud: “Whatever the (majority of) Muslims see as right, then it is good to Allah, and whatever is seen by the (majority of) Muslims as evil, it is evil to Allah.”
[Imam Ahmad, Hakim, Tabarani, Imam Bayhaqi, Haythami, Dhahabi,others]
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